Ants

Bay City, Texas

Weather: low 67 degrees, high 75 degrees, cloudy skies

We had some minor issues at work that occurred last night which we had to resolve today. Once those items were taken care of, the momentum picked up again, and we continue to be on schedule for the outage to end on time. That means about fourteen days left for me unless something unexpected happens. Do you get the feeling that I’m ready for the job to be finished?

When the clock alarmed this morning at 0400 hours, it didn’t register with me at first. Eventually, I realized what that loud noise was. It’s a good thing the clock is sitting across the room from the bed. If it had been by the bed, I might have turned the alarm off and rolled over for more sleep. Well, not really, but it was nice to think about.

While I was at work, Carolyn left a message on my telephone to stop at the local DQ on the way home and pick us up a hamburger. So, even though I was working, I cooked supper tonight. She thinks I’m a great cook, and it’s hard for me to argue with her. Here I am putting in 13 hours a day on the job, and I still find time to cook supper.

One of the worst pests that an RVer has to put up with is ants. They are very sneaky about getting inside, and most of the time they're not noticed until they have become a real problem. Our biggest problem with them occurred in Leesburg, Alabama. We stayed there for about four days, and the ants showed up on the second day. We didn't see anything outside that clued us to what was coming, but when they started appearing inside, I checked outside and found where they coming onto the RV by way of the satellite antenna cable. I sprayed around that area and put some Vaseline on the cable, which is effective in stopping ants and other bugs from crawling up cable and wires. A little later, I found another place where they were coming in by way of the water hose. Again, I treated that area. Later in the day, there was an explosion of ants inside. I don't think I've ever seen that many ants inside before or since.

We did a little brainstorming about how to get rid of the ants inside, and came up with the idea of using the vacuum cleaner with a hose to vacuum them up. That was a good idea, as we were able to quickly get all the ants we could see in a short time. It took us a couple of days to finally get all of them, along with closing all the pathways into the RV.

When we park now, one of the first things we do is spray around anything on the ground that might be a path inside the RV, as well as close off any pathways for them to crawl up and get inside. As much as possible, we try to not park directly under trees so the ants don't fall onto the roof and make their way in. Since the bad infestation, we've not had any more problems. That makes Carolyn happy.

Tomorrow is April 15, tax day. Good luck on everyone's return.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Leesburg, Alabama: Crappie Capital Of The World

Not all who wander are lost.